DEHRADUN: A passenger bus plunged into a gorge in northern India as it was trying to overtake another vehicle on Wednesday, killing 27 people, an official said.

Twenty-five others were injured when the bus fell into the 50-metre (165-foot) gorge, 80 kilometres (49 miles) from Dehradun, capital of the state of Uttarakhand, state disaster management minister Yashpal Arya told AFP.

“It was trying to overtake a private vehicle when it skidded off the road and fell into the gorge,” Arya said. He said a total of 52 people were on board the bus.

The accident occurred two days after 29 Hindu devotees were killed when their truck collided head-on with another vehicle in the northern state of Haryana as they returned from a shrine.

India has the highest annual road death toll in the world, according to a 2009 World Health Organization report, with accidents caused by speeding, careless driving and poor roads.